Jersey Shore and Dream Houses

Join me at the Jersey Shore without leaving your computer on or after August 9th, 5:30 pm EST. I will be searching Snooki and her gang at the Jersey Shore while sharing how you can have the home of your dreams in just 7 Simple Steps.

Go to this link to download the podcast to listen at your leisure... "Click Here For a Podcast at no cost to you!"

Click on the "ReTweet" button below and follow me on twitter. I am LaneArch there.

Sustainable Home Design

You might have heard me on our weekly podcast talk about a current project that I am working on. If not, you are missing out on a priceless resource that can improve your lifestyle and your business. Go to this link to download the podcast to listen at your leisure... "Click Here For a FREE Podcast!" Be sure to click on the ituns icon while at the podcast site!

This home is an energy conscience sustainable home to be built on a 10 acre lot on a side of a 50 foot cliff in the Hill Country of Texas.

Some of the design requirements for this home is:
* It will be built with passive solar energy design systems.
* It might have solar panels and an active solar design system.
* It is not be be over-powering on the site but have a presence.
* It needs to be handicapped accessible on the first floor.
* It will have a grey water retention system. This water will be used to irrigate the nearby landscape.
* It will have a wine "cave" adjacent to the house.
* It might have wind turbines.
* Design around the existing stables to remain on the site.

We are now in the design development phase. Here are two of the many, many design sketches that have been created so far:

Here is how the back of the house can have a sweeping and partially covered terrace that looks towards an awesome panoramic scene of the beautiful rising and setting Texas sun. Not to mention the fantastic natural landscape!

This sketch shows how anticipation can build from a small scale space at the front entrance and tease the visitor with anitcipation of a much larger space beyond.

Kick off your shoes, plop down on the cushy couch, click the flat screen remote control to "on" and enjoy the warmth of the fire in the native stone fireplace that soars up through the pitched ceiling with exposed wooden beams. Just behind you is the panoramic view of the Texas Hill Country that you can admire through the 8 foot tall glazed wooden folding paneled doors.

After the design development phase is complete, we will begin the construction document phase, then the bidding/negotiating phase, and then see it built during the construction administration phase.

Here is a way to better understand what all of these "phases" mean...

Creat a home that creates experiences that match your wildest dreams. You can start planning your new home or renovation by downloading our FREE E-book titled, "Experience Architecture Journal." It will share how you can have the home of your dreams in 7 Simple Steps.

Go to this link to download you FREE copy of the E-Book at... "Click Here For a FREE Home Design E-Book!"


Click on the "ReTweet" button below and follow me on twitter. I am LaneArch there.

How to Customize Your Own Art

Meet today's podcast guest, Don Rattner. He is an architect like me and has been creating ways for you and I to customize our own artwork for our home and office. Check out the short video to hear more about it.

Go to this link to download the podcast to listen at your leisure... "Click Here For a FREE Podcast!"

Click on the "ReTweet" button below and follow me on twitter. I am LaneArch there.

Yikes! Mold in your basement! What do you do?

Maybe it is the same in your area; we have had a lot of rain during the last few days in the NYC area. The rain has made the air really humid in-between the times when the downpours come. During this season, you need to be aware of any mold that might be growing around your home and office.

Here is a photo of one of the areas where they found a patch that looks like black mold.



It seems to be caused by water that was allowed to enter the basement through a poorly sealed air intake grille. Here is a photo of the grille. Notice the bead of sealant that is uneven and clumped up in some areas. If you were there, you would be able to see daylight shining through gaps from the inside of the basement at this joint.


First things first: Remember, you must have the source of the moisture removed before you attach the mold – or it will just come back again. No remediation of mold is final. Mold can always find its way back to the area remediated.

The photos above are from a property that a client wanted us to see. Once we shared with our client some methods that work well at keeping moisture out of the basement and what construction materials can be used that are not proned to accept mold, we also let them know a little about mold. Since Lane Architecture + Design is not an office with any experts in mold, we obtained a lot of the information that you will see can be found almost word for word in an excellent book by a mold expert, Michael Pugliese, The Homeowner’s Guide to Mold, (Reed Construction Data, Inc., Construction Publishers & Consultants, 63 Smiths Lane, Kingston, MA 02364-0880, (781) 422-5000, Copyright 2006). Michael is also a mold remediation contractor…

Although mold can be very dangerous to our health, know the facts about mold so you don't get snookered by some of the mold remediation contractors who are not very honest. They will try to scare you into hiring them at any cost.

Here is some basic facts about mold and how it spreads:

Mold spores need a few things to grow:
• Moisture – a relative humidity of roughly 50% or higher. Some people use hygrometers in their homes to keep track of the humidity.
• Food – material it can grow on, such as wood and wood products, paper, cotton, and leather. Mold will grow on anything where there is moisture and food, such as dirt or dust.
• The right temperature – above freezing and below 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer-like temperatures, between 70 - 90 degrees, are especially conducive to mold growth. Freezing does not kill mold spores; it just makes them go dormant until temperatures warm up again.


Does bleach get rid of the mold?
Certain types of mold are chlorine-resistant. People apply bleach, but the mold comes right back. In fact, it never went away. Some mold remeditators use ammonia based cleaners. Ammonia and bleach combined can cause toxic fumes and should especially be avoided if you are planning to have an expert help you get rid of it.

Here are some great questions that Michael Pugliese recommends you to ask mold remediation contractors before hiring any:

• Are you mold-certified?
• What organization provided your certification?
• Are the individuals who will actually perform the work certified?
• How long have you been in business?
• Can you provide me with at least three references?
• May I have copies of your liability and Worker’s Compensation insurance?
• Do you clean HVAC systems and air ducts?
• What methods do you use to keep mold spores from spreading?

I hope you are having a great summer and staying dry.

Click on the "ReTweet" button below and follow me on twitter. I am LaneArch there.

Freedom Is Not Free

Hope you are having a wonderful 4th of July.

Take pause for a moment and watch this video by a mentor of mine, Mr. Ron Legrand. (His name sounds alot like "Legare'" doesn't it?).

Ron shares a story about the sacrifices that the signers of the Declaration of Independence had to risk and endure.

It will help you appreciate today even more!

Click on the "ReTweet" button below and follow me on twitter. I am LaneArch there.

Bamboo Living Homes

This short video shows how efficient bamboo is as a building product.

Would you like to live in any of the homes in this video?

Click on the "ReTweet" button below and follow me on twitter. I am LaneArch there.

Office Furniture Ideas

In case you were not able to attend the NeoCon convention this year, let me share with you some of the things that I saw there.

"Haworth" had an outstanding showroom filled with awesome furniture that can be used in offices and classrooms.

Knoll’s and Herman Miller’s showrooms were a good place to visit too. Some of the things that I saw in their showroom and in some of their “me too” competitors included:

• Ergonomically designed chairs. They had lines that were designed with various uses in mind. There were conference room chairs and desk chairs that looked enough alike but different enough to serve unique spacial needs.

• White boards were common too. Some showrooms showed entire walls finished with glossy white laminate surfaces that allowed the officer user to mark upon them with erasable color markers. Another variation of this was a special glossy white paint that can be applied to gypsum board walls that allow for erasable color markers to be used on them.

• Haworth has a good raised floor system that allows for almost any finished panel to be placed in tile like fashion. The finish of these panels could be terrazzo, VCT, stone, wood, or anything else you might want to step on. Raised floor systems allow the office to be wired and ducted below the walking surface. This allows the users to have easier access to the electrical, data, and HVAC systems in case these systems need to be altered during a future renovation of the office.

• There were several wall systems out there too. Every showroom had a slight variation of their design at the corners, base boards, and the way they butt the glass at joints. Some looked better than others. Haworth had one of the better designs.

• Of course, there were some gratuitous “green” designs. One showroom had polished river rocks in some kind of resin flooring system with log type benches and lime green upholstery. It was so “in your face” green that it just looked just manipulative towards anyone they hoped were overzealous about being environmentally conscience. I looked for photos of a particularly annoying showroom that had so much fake green stuff in it, it should have been in a Disney set, but I guess even that vendor was too embarrassed to broadcast photos to everyone.

There were a lot of other things that were there to see and I would be happy to talk with you further to even compare notes about what you might have seen there. Feel free to leave a comment below, email me at info@LaneArchitecture.net or call me at 212-594-2007 to catch up.



-Larry

P.S. Haworth flew me up there to join them at NeoCon and to see their factory in Michigan. Thank you, Haworth for giving me such the red carpet treatment.

Click on the "ReTweet" button below and follow me on twitter. I am LaneArch there.